Analysis and simulation of a single-phase seven-level inverter controlled by modified sinusoidal PWM technique

In this paper, a modified sinusoidal pulse width modulation (MSPWM) technique and a modified single-phase H-bridge seven-level inverter is proposed. The switching pulses for the proposed seven-level inverter are generated using a single triangular carrier waveform, a fully rectified sinusoidal signal, and three stepped reference signals (Uref1, Uref2 and Uref3). Using optimization technique, the magnitude of the stepped reference signal is determined so that the total harmonic distortion (THD) of the output voltage waveform is minimum and the fundamental component, RMS value of the voltage is improved for a given modulation index Ma as compared to the sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM). By the implementation of the new scheme, the seven-level of the inverter output voltage level (+Vdc, +2Vdc/3, +Vdc/3, 0, -Vdc, -2Vdc/3, -Vdc) is obtained for any given modulation index. Similarly, if only two stepped reference signals are used then the inverter will act as a five-level inverter for any modulating index Ma. The proposed MSPWM and seven-level inverter are simulated on MATLAB/SIMULINK for R, R-L load and on a single-phase capacitor-start and capacitor-start-run Induction Motor.